Watch as a professional fashion illustrator traces over a full length photo on tissue paper so he can mark it up using head lengths from the tip of you head down to your toes. He also marks off the body shape so he can draw certain garments and patterns on it to see if the client will like the look without wasting time before with a muslin.

This is a time saving mock up stage. All to see if something works or not. I’ve seen scrap pieces of proposed fabric laid over a croquis before if you’re not artsy or that comfortable with drawing fabric patterns on paper. Scraps also save swap out time if one is toying with more than one idea for the same garment.

For those of us who have studied drafting, sketching and the like, this will come easy to you, but for those who haven’t, you will get the hang of it after a few attempts. Most of it is simple tracing and marking off co-ordinates.